Project Materials

EVALUATING THE KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF COMMUNITY PHARMACISTS TOWARD HIV INFECTED PATIENTS

Chapter one

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The practice of HIV care has altered substantially over the last two decades. Knowledge about HIV pathophysiology has rapidly increased, leading to the creation of novel drugs. In addition to knowledge upgrades, health care providers’ attitudes towards new HIV care concepts are also important.

The underlying idea of modern HIV care emphasises patient autonomy and the optimal use of health care specialists’ various specialities.

Clinical, economic, and humanistic outcomes provide significant evidence for the relevance of patient autonomy and a team approach to HIV care. The knowledge and attitudes of chemists on HIV can have a major impact on patient outcomes (Hsiang-Yin, 2014).

Given the prevalent concept of a team approach to HIV care, only when all health care workers have the same high level of knowledge and positive attitudes can patient care be guaranteed (Hsiang-Yin, 2014).

Pharmacists are easily accessible to chronically ill patients, such as those with HIV, especially when the disease is under control and the patient simply needs to visit a pharmacy to have their prescription refilled (Hsiang-Yin 2014).

Pharmaceutical care has greatly reduced the prevalence of drug-related disorders while also achieving the targeted goals of drug therapy in other diseases and conditions such anticoagulation, hyperlipidaemia, and asthma (Jungnickel PW, 1997).

Studies have also demonstrated that chemists’ involvement in the care of poorly managed HIV patients leads to better outcomes (Jungnickel PW, 1997).

This study focusses on community chemists’ attitudes and knowledge of HIV infected patients, which was also highlighted in the WHO adherence report (WHO, 2013).

HIV infection is a pandemic disease that is gradually making its presence felt in the developing world, where the majority of the world’s HIV load is expected to be carried in the future (King H, 1998).

Furthermore, it is a disease in which antiretroviral therapy and lifestyle modification play important roles in the treatment and management of the condition (Chitre MM, 2016), and in which health-promoting interventions in both therapeutic areas are accommodated within the chemist’s defined scope of practice (Wermeille J, 2014) (Kiel PJ, 2015) (Johnson LC, 1997).

The majority, if not all, of HIV patients use long-term antiretroviral medication to treat their disease. The prescription refill dynamic allows for frequent personal and informed contact between the patient and the pharmacist, preparing the community pharmacist for roles in HIV care beyond traditional medicine dispensing (Kiel PJ, 2015; Johnson LC, 1997).

Encounters like this give chemists with excellent possibilities to deliver pharmaceutical care for a variety of chronic conditions.